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Reformed Baptists, also historically calledParticular Baptists, or evenCalvinistic Baptists,[1] areBaptists that hold to aCalvinist soteriology (salvation belief).[2] Depending on the denomination, Calvinistic Baptists adhere to varying degrees ofReformed theology, ranging from simply embracing theFive Points of Calvinism, to accepting a modified form offederalism; all Calvinistic Baptists reject the classical Reformed teaching oninfant baptism. While the Reformed Baptist confessions affirm views of the nature of baptism similar to those of the classical Reformed, they reject infants as the proper subjects of baptism.[3] The first Calvinistic Baptist church was formed in the 1630s.[1] The1689 Baptist Confession of Faith is a significant summary of the beliefs of Reformed Baptists.[1] The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20th century to denote Baptists who retained Baptist ecclesiology, and reaffirmed Reformed biblical theology, such asCovenant theology.
Particular Baptists are a group that broke away from theChurch of England in the 17th century. They adhere to a higher degree ofReformed theology than other Calvinistic Baptist groups and usually subscribe to theLondon Confession of 1689. Significant figures includeJohn Bunyan,John Gill, andCharles Spurgeon.[4] In the last century, the group became more popular as more Baptists identified withPuritan teachings.[5]
Groups calling themselvesStrict Baptists are often differentiated from other denominations calling themselves "Reformed Baptists", sharing the same Calvinist doctrine, but differing onecclesiastical polity;[6] "Strict Baptists" generally prefer acongregationalist polity.[6]
The group of Strict Baptists calledStrict and Particular Baptists areBaptists who believe in aCalvinist interpretation ofChristian salvation.[7] The Particular Baptists arose inEngland in the 17th century, led by aradical travelling minister namedWilliam Gadsby, and took their name from the doctrine ofparticular redemption,[7] while the term "strict" refers to the practice ofclosed communion. Their religious beliefs continue in theGospel Standard Strict Baptist denomination.[8]
Primitive Baptists adhere to a Reformed soteriology.[9] Primitive Baptists emphasize the teaching that "God alone is the author of salvation and therefore any effort by human beings to make salvation happen or compel others to conversion is simply a form of 'works righteousness' that implies that sinners can affect their own salvation."[10] As such, they have rejected the concept of missions.[10]
Regular Baptists adhere to a Reformed soteriology.[9] Those who areOld Regular Baptists largely hold to the tenets of Calvinism, "but maintain that God never predestined anyone to hell and that only those who do not heed the Word of God will be lost."[11]
Certain denominations ofUnited Baptists teach a Reformed soteriology.[9]
Sovereign Grace Baptists in the broadest sense are any "Calvinistic" Baptists that accept God's sovereign grace[12] in salvation and predestination. In the narrower sense, certain churches and groups have preferred "Sovereign Grace" in their name, rather than using the terms "Calvinism", "Calvinist", or "Reformed Baptist". This includes some who prefer the1644 Baptist Confession of Faith to the1689 Confession, and who are critical ofcovenant theology.[13]
All of these groups generally agree with theFive Points of Calvinism –Total Depravity,Unconditional Election,Limited Atonement,Irresistible Grace, andPerseverance of the Saints. Groups calling themselves "Sovereign Grace Baptists" have been particularly influenced by the writings ofJohn Gill in the 18th century.[14] Among American Baptists who have revived such Calvinist ideas were Rolfe P. Barnard and Henry T. Mahan, who organised the firstSovereign Grace Bible Conference inAshland, Kentucky, in 1954,[15][16] though groups designated asSovereign Grace are not necessarily connected to them.
Calvinistic Baptist groups presently using the termSovereign Grace include the Sovereign Grace Baptist Association,[17] theSovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada, and some among the growing Calvinist strand ofIndependent Baptists,[18] including several hundredLandmark Independent Baptist churches.[19]
Reformed Baptist churches in the UK go back to the 1630s.[1] Notable early pastors include the authorJohn Bunyan (1628–88),[1]Benjamin Keach (1640–1704), the theologianJohn Gill (1697–1771),[1]John Brine (1703–64),Andrew Fuller, and the missionaryWilliam Carey (1761–1834).[1]Charles Spurgeon (1834–92), pastor to theNew Park Street Chapel (later theMetropolitan Tabernacle) inLondon, has been called "by far the most famous and influential preacher the Baptists had."[20] The Metropolitan Tabernacle itself has been particularly influential in the Reformed Baptist movement in the UK. Benjamin Keach, John Gill,John Rippon (1751–1836), Charles Spurgeon, and Peter Masters (mentioned below) have all pastored this same congregation. Their characteristic traits may be the founder (Keach, signer of the 1689), theologian (Gill), hymnist (Rippon), preacher (Spurgeon), and restorer (Masters).
The 1950s saw a renewed interest in Reformed theology among Baptists in the UK.[6]
Peter Masters, pastor of theMetropolitan Tabernacle in London, created theLondon Reformed Baptist Seminary in 1975.[6]
Baptist churches in the United States continued to operate under the confessional statement, the 1689 London Baptist, but they renamed it according to the local associations in which it was adopted, first the Philadelphia Confession (1742, which includes two new chapters),[21] then the Charleston Confession (1761, adopted from the London without changes). When theSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary was founded, its governing confession, the abstract of principles, was summarized form of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and its founding president,James P. Boyce wrote his "Abstract of Systematic Theology" from an evident Calvinist position. The first major shift at the seminary away from Calvinism came at the leadership ofE. Y. Mullins, president from 1899 to 1928.[22] Many of the developments in the U.K. mentioned above during the 1950s and following also made an impact on Baptists in America, seen especially in the Founders Movement (which was connected to the so-called "Conservative Resurgence" in the SBC) and in the works of men such as Walter Chantry,[23]Roger Nicole, andErnest Reisinger.
In March 2009, noting the resurgence of Calvinism in the United States,Time listed several Baptists among current Calvinist leaders.[24]Albert Mohler, president of TheSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a strong advocate of Calvinism, although his stand has received opposition from inside theSouthern Baptist Convention.[25]John Piper, who was pastor atBethlehem Baptist Church inMinneapolis for 33 years, is one of several Baptists who have written in support of Calvinism.[25]
While the Southern Baptist Convention remains split on Calvinism,[26] there are a number of explicitly Reformed Baptist groups in the United States, including theConfessional Baptist Association,[17] theContinental Baptist Churches,[17] theSovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches,[17] and otherSovereign Grace Baptists.[14] Such groups have had some theological influence from otherReformed denominations, such as theOrthodox Presbyterian Church.[27] An example of this is the 1995 adaptation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church'sTrinity Hymnal which was published for Reformed Baptist churches in America as theTrinity Hymnal (Baptist Edition).[28]
By 2000, Reformed Baptist groups in the United States totaled about 16,000 people in 400 congregations.[29]
Several Reformed Baptist Seminaries currently operate in the US;International Reformed Baptist Seminary (IRBS),Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary, Grace Bible Theological Seminary, & Reformed Baptist Seminary are four that each subscribe to the 1689 London Baptist Confession in some form.[30][31][32][33]
The Sovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches (SGBA), which was organized in 1984,[17] sponsors an annual national conference and churches cooperate in missions, publications, retreats, camps and other activities. The Missionary Committee serves under the Executive Committee to screen candidates and recommend them to the churches for support. They currently (2009) are supporting one missionary endeavour. The Publication Committee reviews and approves submissions, and supplies literature to the churches.Grace News is published quarterly. A Confession of Faith was adopted in 1991. Membership in the SGBA is open to any Baptist church subscribing to the Constitution and Articles of Faith. There are 12 member churches, half of which are located inMichigan.[34] The association is recognised as an endorsing agent for United Statesmilitary chaplains.[35]
Notable Reformed Baptist figures in Africa include Conrad Mbewe inZambia, who has been compared to Spurgeon; Kenneth Mbugua and John Musyimi of Emmanuel Baptist Church Nairobi, Kenya.[36]
InSouth Africa, the Afrikaanse Baptiste Kerke's 34 churches follow reformed doctrine, as opposed to the mainly English speakingBaptist Union of Southern Africa, which does not.
There is a small but growing network of Reformed Baptist churches in Europe. The Italian churches are organized in theEvangelical Reformed Baptist Churches in Italy association; several French speaking churches sprung from the work ofEnglishmissionary Stuart Olyott at the Église réformée baptiste deLausanne,VD,CH, started in the 1960s.[37] There is a growing network of Reformed Baptist Churches in Ukraine. There are few small communities churches in Germany, where the largest is inFrankfurt am Main.[38] In March 2023, a new national association of churches formed in the United Kingdom, organized as the "Association of Confessional Baptist Churches in the United Kingdom".[39]
In Brazil there is a modest association, theComunhão Reformada Batista do Brasil (Baptist Reformed Communion of Brazil) sprung mostly from the work of US missionary Richard Denham at São José dos Campos,SP.[40] As it did not correspond to expectations of dynamism and effectiveness, it is being supplanted by a newer Convention, theConvenção Batista Reformada do Brasil [pt] (Baptist Reformed Convention of Brazil).[41]
The Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada (SGF) is a fellowship for Baptist churches inCanada[42] holding to either theBaptist Confession of 1644 or 1689.[43] SGF had 10 member churches when it was formally inaugurated, located inNew Brunswick andOntario.[44] As of 2012, there were 14 churches, including theJarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto.[45] SGF is one of the Baptist groups associated with theToronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College.[46]
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